EL SEGUNDO — When the Lakers returned to the practice floor on Wednesday morning, they did so without LeBron James.
Coach JJ Redick said after Wednesday’s practice that the four-time league MVP had an excused absence on Wednesday because of personal reasons.
James also wasn’t “in the building” on Tuesday, which was a voluntary “get what you need” day in which Redick met with players individually and with his coaching staff after a scheduled off-day on Monday.
James missed his first game of the season on Sunday in the home win against the Portland Trail Blazers because of left foot soreness.
Redick said James and Austin Reaves, who has missed the last five games because of a bruised left pelvis, are considered day to day.
Reaves sat out of one drill on Wednesday, with Redick saying it was “just due to the nature of the drill. It was particularly a physical drill and just want to be mindful of his pain tolerance.” But the fourth-year guard was a full participant in all the Lakers’ five-on-five, live and all the breakdown drills, according to Redick.
The Lakers (13-11) are in the midst of a rare stretch of four days without games after a 13-day stretch from Nov. 26-Dec. 6 in which they played eight games – including six on the road – and didn’t play in Los Angeles in consecutive games.
They’re also in a lighter stretch of their schedule where they’ll play just two games in a 10-day stretch from Monday through Dec. 18: Friday’s road game against the Minnesota Timberwolves (12-11) and Sunday’s home game against the red-hot Memphis Grizzlies (17-8), winners of nine of their past 10 games.
The break in the schedule allowed the Lakers to have a couple of days off before having a more extended practice on Wednesday.
“We haven’t had a practice like that in two months,” Redick said. “We got a lot done defensively, trying to create just a little bit more clarity on some very nuanced things with the guys. We did that in small groups against coaches and live. And we worked also on some end-of-quarter, end-of-game stuff. Live. Simulated. That was great as well.”
When asked if James would join the team on the flight to Minneapolis on Thursday ahead of the matchup against the Timberwolves, Redick responded: “I don’t know yet. Again, it’s personal reasons, so he’s taking some time.”
Max Christie said Lakers players had a “next-man-up mentality” on Wednesday in light of James’ absence.
“Having a leader like that that’s not here is tough, but I know some of that stuff is out of our control. It’s kind of like a next-man-up mentality, still, even in practice. The guys still competed really hard even though he wasn’t here. There was some good leadership, there was good vocalization for us as a team, good collaboration, so it was a good practice.”
James, who turns 40 in 2½ weeks, is averaging 23 points (49.5% shooting overall, 35.9% from 3-point range), 9.1 assists and 8 rebounds in 35 minutes per game (23 games).
Redick addressed the importance of communication with James and his longtime trainer, Mike Mancias, to help manage James’ workload.
“He communicates to us,” Redick said. “In game, he’s asked for a sub a couple times [because] he’s gassed. For us, we have to be cognizant as we play more and more games, just the cumulative effect of playing a lot minutes and Sunday, being banged up with the foot thing, it felt like a good opportunity for him to get some rest.”
The target return date for backup center Jaxson Hayes, who has missed the last seven games because of a sprained/bruised right ankle, is “in flux,” according to Redick. Hayes has missed 13 of the last 14 gams because of right ankle ailments.
